By Big Sky, Small World, Carroll’s student-run podcast, has been capturing the voices and stories of students and Carroll College for five years now.
Big Sky, Small World began in 2020 by three students who wanted to share stories about the people who they believed made Montana special.
Since then, it has expanded into a regular course taught by Dr. Alan Hansen and supported by Carroll’s Communication Center. Hansen began teaching at Carroll College in the fall of 2008.
Most recently, the podcast has collaborated with Annette Ryerson’s Entrepreneurship class to highlight local entrepreneurs with Carroll connections. Ryerson is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Business Department at Carroll College.
Students in this class were tasked with finding a Carroll alum who created and currently runs their own business. The chosen businesses ranged from service-based to product-based.
Some entrepreneurs included 1995 alumnus Brian Heuiser, owner of Heuiser Physical Therapy in Helena, adjunct professor Garrett Thompson, who owns his photography business, Floating Leaf Studios, and Madie Brustkern, who is the owner of Bark 4 Joy, a dog training company.
Brustkern received her B.A. in Anthrozoology in 2019 from Carroll College and her M.S. in Animal Science in 2021 from Texas Tech University. Bark 4 Joy was opened in 2018 and has been voted Best of Montana since the inception of the Best of Montana contest in 2022. Not only is Brustkern an entrepreneur, but he is also an anthrozoology professor at Carroll College.
“Life gets busy, especially now with running a business and working full-time,” said Brustkern. “Things get a little crazy, so just remembering that joy and to remind myself why I started.”
If you are interested in learning more about entrepreneurs who started out at Carroll College, more episodes of Big Sky, Small World will be posted throughout the semester.
For information about the podcast studio, and podcast class, contact Alan Hansen, ahansen@carroll.edu
